


Stuck Together

by words_are_like_colors



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: AU, M/M, Modern AU, Slow Burn, fake boyfriends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 09:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9378542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_are_like_colors/pseuds/words_are_like_colors
Summary: Airports are the bane of his existence– arriving late, TSA, canceled flight, baggage claim, etc. It was just another Christmas for Ed. Just another day when he forget the time for his flight and arrived late, or at least would've been late unless the flight was previously canceled. This is how he reached this predicament of tripping and falling at a stunning man's feet.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If the title of this chapter seems familiar, you’re right. It comes from the song _Something Entirely New_ by Rebecca Sugar. I’ll be using lyrics from that song for upcoming chapters as well.  
>  Also, thank you so much [Magnosaurus](http://www.magnosaurus.tumblr.com) for beta-ing my fic! It means a lot to me. THANK YOU!!  
> Enjoy!

My thick soled boots pounded loudly on the sleek white tiles of the terminal floor as I weaved through the crowd of waiting passengers, my messenger bag and leather jacket bouncing against my body at each stride. _So close!_ I zoomed around a group of people when I finally spotted my gate– E18. People surrounded the area around the sign and door. _So I wasn’t late! Thank god!_ Just one more step… one more step onto my shoelace, sending me tumbling to the floor. _THUMP!_

“I made it!” I cheered still on the ground, ignoring the obvious glances and questioning looks from the crowd around me but what I didn’t expect was one to click their tongue at me and nudge me with their shoe. 

“Get up. You _are_ late. We all are.” The neon purple toe of the man’s sneaker poked at my side. “The floor is already dirty, even without an ant like you laying on it.” 

“Eh? You callin’ me short?” I flashed a warning glare up in the man’s direction as I clambered onto my feet, straightening out my shirt before going back down to lace up my boots and tuck the jeans in. 

A small chuckle came from the man. “I ain’t lying, just pointing out the truth.” 

Rolling my eyes, I stood back up and looked at the man, and what I was met with was something I didn’t expect. The said man had an agitated look on his face. His sharp purple eyes matched his sneakers while his palm tree like green hair matched his… tight tank top, and a black cropped jacket stood out against the dark green. My eyes traced where his earbuds were feed up under the tank top; the top stuck to him perfectly, all the way down to his jeans where it was slightly bunched up by the blockage of his black belt. He looked kinda… _good looking? In an odd way… wait what?_

“A picture would last longer you know.” His snippy voice pulled me out of the trace. A blush instantly bounced up onto my cheeks at his words. 

“N-no thank you.” I stuttered out. _Shit shit shit! Not again!_ Last time I met a guy who was remotely hot (not saying that this guy is hot or anything… okay. I’m lying but that’s not my point) it turned into a mess in a quick few days. Roy was my ex’s name. We were together for a whole solid year, a year of happy smiles and kisses. I was about to move into a new apartment with him when I found him sucking a chick’s face off. A damn _girl_ , yet he was dating me, a _guy_. After that, I had turned into a pile of crap. I skipped class, drank and even tried to hit it off with a few douchebags before I got over him. 

The man smirked and shook his head. “Anyways. The flight was delayed for who knows how long. If you haven’t noticed, it’s pouring out and it’s snowing in Boston.” He stuck an earbud into his ear before I could reply and pressed the buttons on the earbuds, presumingly changing the song. I sighed as I watched him bend over and pick something off of the floor. “Hm? So your name is Edward Elric… pathetic.” 

My wallet was tossed at me. Frowning, I noticed that a few of my things had fallen out of my pockets during the fall. Oops. I shoved everything into my bag and grimaced at my ticket; I had apparently crumpled it up when I had rushed during the TSA scanning, which explains why my boots were untied. “Well, what’s your name then? You got mine, so I should have yours.” 

“I don’t hand my name out like candy, shrimp. I don’t need the whole world knowing it.” He huffed, fixing his backpack on his shoulder before wandering over to some empty seats farthest from the crowd of people demanding why they couldn’t leave for Boston now. He tossed his bag underneath the seat and flopped down. “Still following me?” 

“What do I need to do to get your name? And DON’T call me ‘shrimp’.” I put my hands on my hips in a definite manner to try and show that I hated being called that but that didn’t seem to work. 

“Okay, _shrimp_. I guessing that you also want my number as well– seeing that you were staring at me for a minute and a half. Buy me something good to eat then we can talk. I’m starvin’.” The jerk stretched his arms out over his head before dropped down them into his lap while he crossed legs. A slick smirk appeared on his lips, it oddly made my heart flutter like a school girl’s would.

“Fine!” I pushed my golden hair out of my face as I started my quest to find this guy– no, I’ll call him Palm Tree because of his hair– a decent meal. 

After looking around for a cheap but decent place to get food, I found Starbucks. Palm Tree must like Starbucks right? I cringed at the mile long line before stepping into it. 

The ten minute wait soon ended and I bounced up to the counter. “Uh. Hi. Can I have a regular latte– cream and sugar–,” Hopefully Palm Tree will like the coffee. I don’t know his preference. After scanning the menu, I spotted my slice of heaven. Hot Cocoa and Chocolate Chunk Muffins. I don’t usually take pride in this but I’m a major chocoholic. “a large hot chocolate and two of those chocolate muffins.” I rambled off to the clerk without bothering to even look at them as I gave them my credit card; I was too obsessed with the thought of getting this hot guy's– not hot! Just a stinking palm tree– name.

Once I got the coffee and muffins, and after juggling the items for a minute, I managed to get back to Palm Tree without spilling either drink. “Hey. I’m back.” I announced as I stood in front of the guy. Palm Tree didn’t look up from his phone so I tried again. “Hey! I got you a coffee!” 

No response. 

So I kicked him, which turned out not to be a good idea. Due to not being able to keep my balance while kicking him and carrying the coffee and muffins, I ended up falling (once again) at this guy’s feet. Luckily, Palm Tree came out of his phone induced trance to catch a muffin and his coffee in the air. I, myself, managed to keep a hand on my hot chocolate but my poor beautiful muffin met its demise on the floor, chocolate chip side down.

Palm Tree laughed at my pain as I picked up my poor muffin. I sat down in the seat next to him and started to nibble on my muffin. “I hope you don’t mind the coffee choice, I didn’t know what you liked.” 

“It’s fine.” He hummed and sipped at the coffee before unwrapping the Christmas themed paper from the muffin and taking a bite. “Although I was expecting a meal more than just a muffin.” 

“I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t think of that. Sorry.” I mumbled into my muffin, nibbling off the chocolate chunks before the muffin part. I looked up to see Palm Tree laughing and grinned at me. “What?” 

“Wow. You’re precise with your muffins eating skills.” He chuckled, his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing too hard. 

“Oh come on. It’s not that funny– what’s your name?” 

“Envy Alister, the man who eats muffins normally.” He stifled his laughs until they turned into light giggles. 

I looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Envy? Isn’t that one of the seven deadly sins?” I hissed under my breath, normally you wouldn’t speak of these things out in public. 

The grin vanished from his face at the hiss. “That’s exactly why I don’t hand my name out like candy. People ask questions. Will it make you feel better if I had a different name?” Envy brushed a loose strand of hair out of his face, huffing and sliding down into his seat more. 

I quickly shook my head. The name was oddly appealing, it was strange yet interesting. Fuck it if his name is Envy, one of the ugliest sins, I liked it! “No! Envy is good.” A smile crawled up onto my face. “It's… cool.” 

“Cool? Cool is what you think it is?! I think it’s a damn liability to carry such a name. You would be surprised how many speeches I get a day about how evil I am.” Envy angrily ate his muffin. I felt guilty for giving that poor chocolate chip muffin to him, the muffin doesn’t deserve to be eaten so harshly. 

“S-sorry. I didn’t mean to anger you.” I mumbled, looking away. I really didn’t mean to upset him. I just thought the name was cool and unique, unlike my common boring one. 

Envy just rolled his eyes and finished off his muffin before taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s fine.” He muttered into the cup. 

I relaxed, relieved, and pulled my phone out of my pocket when it buzzed. “So… Why are you going to Boston?” I said, trying to make easy conversation. A message from Alphonse popped up on the screen.

Envy flicked out an earbud when he realized that I wanted to talk. “Family. They wanted me to go up there to help host a business Christmas ball or whatever.” 

“Your family is rich?” I asked innocently, it makes sense; typically where you hear about fancy balls, it’s usually it’s hosted by rich families or businesses. 

Envy raised an eyebrow at me. “Is that what’s you’re interested in? How rich I am?” 

“N-no! I was just wondering.” 

He shrugged with a light chuckle at my apology. “Yeah, my parents are. I went to college down here in Dallas to get away from them. Is that why you’re in Dallas too, shrimp?” 

I bit my tongue from telling him off for calling me that so I answered. “No. I promised my brother I would go to the college I wanted to go to so I just chose a random art college and went there.” 

“The Art Institute of Dallas?” 

“How did you know?!” I exclaimed which received a few looks but I could care less. 

“I go there too, for graphic design mostly.” Envy smirked at my enthusiasm. 

“I go for photography.” I piped up but he seemed to ignore that when he asked. “Is that your brother there?” I followed Envy’s finger down where it was pointing at my phone screen. 

“Huh?” I glanced down at the message I had opened but never actually looked at because Envy distracted him. 

_****Al:**** You didn’t miss your flight, did you? You really need to pay attention to schedules, big bro. _

Envy smirked and sat back in his seat. “Ha! I can tell, you practically flew across the whole airport trying not to be late– then end up being late– to a cancelled flight.” 

I shot a soft glare at him. “Last time I wanted to go up to them I was late for… reasons… and Al gave me hell for it.” The last time he had went to go up was when he was having trouble coping with Roy cheating and bad memories had resurfaced. 

“Call him.” 

“Huh?” 

“He is your brother, is he not? Can’t he just come down here?” Envy asked, pulling off his black headband, letting his hair fall in front of his face for a moment before taking the hair tie off of his wrist. I knew it wasn’t the best moment to stop and stare while we were talking about my brother but wow, he’s beautiful. The dyed hair drifted in his face in long beautiful strands just before a few were quickly pulled back; his nimble fingers doing quick work of the hair band to put it up into a messy, but elegant bun. 

What snapped me out of this mini trance of staring was Envy quickly snatching my phone out of my lap and taking a picture of himself. When I protested, he just rolled his brilliant eyes and said that I was staring too much. 

“Hmm…” he hummed softly under his breath as he typed something onto my phone and plugged in his earbuds. He kept one for himself before tossing the phone back at me.

I shot him a weird look before glancing down at my phone to see that Envy had clicked the call button on the phone. Before I could cancel the call and tell Envy off for calling Al, said man answered. I quickly snatched up the earbud that was deposited into my lap and put it in my ear to hear. 

“ _Ed. You skipped your flight again._ ” It was clear that Al was disappointed, his usual happy greeting of hello did come but it was instead replaced by a motherlike scolding. _“I’ve told you many times to get ready the next day so this wouldn’t happen! You were probably messing around with your friends again.”_

The palm tree shot me a slick smirk, hearing word for word what Al was saying. “Hi Al. I actually didn’t miss the flight this time, the flight missed me! It apparently got cancelled.” I tried to sound more optimistic than what I was really feeling. Personally, I’d rather miss the flight for some stupid reason than be sitting here in an airport full of waiting passengers, next to an annoying… hot person. “So I did good this time–” 

Envy cut me off, pulling the phone closer to him so he could talk into it. “Little shrimpy here was a bit late to a flight that got cancel. We would’ve been already in the plane if it wasn’t for the weather.” 

“ _Ed, who’s that?_ ” Alphonse asked hesitatingly at first but then the questions started to barge in, eager to meet someone new. “ _Is that your new friend? Boyfriend? Your last one was an ass so hopefully this one is better. You should’ve told me you were bring your new boyfriend._ ” 

I literally facepalmed– face, palm, and all, plus a deep blush. Why the hell does he have to embarrass me?! Envy isn’t even close to being a boyfriend– not even close enough to be considered an acquaintance. 

I was about to retort when Envy stole the phone again. “Yep! We’re together. Your little bro and I are just smitten!” I nearly leapt into Envy’s lap to take to phone away from him, ignoring Al’s happy gasp and a new batch of questions. Envy managed to keep me at bay and talk at the same time. “Now, I assume Edward here hasn’t told you who I am yet so I’m open to any questions.” 

“ _Name?_ ” 

“Envy Alister at your service.” He winked at me, making me pause for a moment from where I was trying to grab for the phone; Envy held it high over his head teasingly so I couldn’t reach it and stop the embarrassing call.

“ _Whoa. That’s a cool name! Where did you two meet?_ ” 

Envy laughed when I attempted to slap him and he dodged. The earbud in my ear slipped out so I couldn’t hear Al.

“ _Oh, you know~_ ” Envy ducked under my swinging arm. “He was just doing his thing and saw me. He thought it was a swell idea to take a picture of me and he was right. We turned out to be boyfriends!” 

I couldn’t hear Al’s response but it probably mostly cooing of some kind on how that was just adorable or something sappy like that. “Envy! Stop. You ain’t my boyfriend!” I growled, ignoring the stares completely. I grabbed onto Envy’s arm and started to pull roughly, trying with all my might. “Come on, stop it already.” 

“Nope! I won’t stop until you stop.” He said to me, jumping up from his seat and backing a few feet away from me. He spoke into the phone, “He’s _embarrassed_ that I’m talkin’ to you. It’s so adorable!” Another devilish smirk crossed his face, purposefully teasing me. 

I gave up at that point, hopeful that Envy would be true to his words and hand me the phone once I had calmed down. I ripped off my leather jacket and tossed it into the chair before flopping down on top of it. The small adrenaline rush still made me a little fidgety as I waited for Envy to come back over to the chairs.

The palm tree sighed and said to Al, “Aw, I have to give your pouty brother the phone. Can’t wait to see you~.” 

I snatched the phone from Envy’s outstretched hand, failing to notice his painted black nails before ripping out and throwing the earbuds at the man. Huffing, I raised the phone to my ear only to hear loud squealing. “ _Oh my god! Ed! He invited me up to his parent’s ball. He invited me because he felt bad for me having you as my brother. Haha! He’s a lot better than that Roy guy right?_ ” 

I shot a glare at Envy before answering with a sigh. “Al, you know people are going to ask questions and stuff. You don’t want that happening do–”

“ _I don’t care anymore, Ed. I’m not 10, I’m 18_ ” Al said exasperatedly, annoyed that I worried over him. “ _If the Alisters kick me out, they kick me out. I won’t blame them._ ” I went to say something but Al continued. “ _Brother, it’s fine. I’m used to people looking at me weirdly and such. I have automail, even I would stop and stare if someone else had it. You don’t see it everyday. I’m fine, Ed, I can explain for myself._ ” 

I frowned for a moment then spoke. “Oh, okay, Al. I understand. And by the way, Envy is not my boyfriend. He’s just lying to you to make fun.”

“ _Oh, come on brother. You’re just embarrassed._ ” Al giggled from the other side. His giggles were interrupted by a loud calling and a clang. “ _Ah. I have to go Ed. Winry wants me to go eat dinner now. Please send me a picture of him. See ya later Ed!_ ” 

“Wait! Al! He’s not my–” Al hung up the phone before I could even finish my sentence. Gritting my teeth, I shoved the phone into my pocket before half growling at Envy. “What the hell was that for?! You are not my boyfriend and will never be.”

Envy was still standing in front of me with a wide smirk across his face and hands on his hips. “Oh~ Ed~ you’ll never understand.” He jutted out a hip in sort of mocking manner which, obviously, annoyed me. 

“I won’t understand until you tell me”

This seemed to peak the man’s interests which was clear from glitter that entered his striking eyes. “I’ll tell you somewhere else.” He grabbed my arm and tried to pull only for me yank it out of his grip with a small snarl. 

“Whatever you want to say, tell it to me here.” I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly. 

The palm tree sighed and rolled his eyes, “Do you really want other people to overhear this and get jealous? I’m freaking Envy, I know what people would get jealous over.” 

Well, I couldn’t argue about that so I stood up and grabbed my things before letting Envy drag me away. He pulled me over to an empty corner by the big windows. The windows spanned from the clinging to the floor, making the already large room seem even larger. Normally when it was sunny outside, passengers can watch as their plane pulls up to the pick up stations; today, it was dark, windy, and pouring making this sight an impossible one to witness.

“Okay Envy, what do you so dearly want to tell me than you had to pull me away from our seats?” I rolled my eyes, still pissed off. Why couldn’t he just have told me when we were sitting?! Someone could take them! 

The palm tree chuckled and grinned at me, flashing his bright white teeth. “You’re cute when pissed.” 

“Shut up and get to the point!” I hissed, unable to beat down the faint blush that hovered over my cheeks at his words. 

“Hm… this really should be obvious but I’ll outline it for you because your little bitty shrimpy brain can’t handle it.” He raised a hand to defect from my incoming outburst. “My o-so-rich family put a sine qua non on me saying that I _have_ to get a boyfriend or girlfriend– thank god they don’t mind that I’m gay– while I’m in college or they’ll stop supporting me. So I’m asking you to–” 

“But–” 

“No buts Eddy boy (he ignored my growl of warning), you are coming as my boyfriend whether you like it or not. I know I could be a jerk about it and just force you to be my boyfriend but this comes with benefits. First, since this is a ball, you get everything for free from my parents; second, important people are going to be there so I can help get you a job or something, seeing that you’re a photographer, people will be pouring all over you; third, you can invite anyone you want, and we invited your brother already; and fourth, you can keep me as your boyfriend if you end up liking me.” He finished his monologue with a proud grin, brushing some loose hairs out of his face. 

I huffed and crossed my arms, frowning down at the floor so not to met his eager eyes. It’s not like it was a bad offer, it was actually an amazing offer but… _but what?_ There was no but. I had nothing else to combat with. Yes, it would be difficult getting used to being a boyfriend to some rich yet dark looking stranger but it’s not like he was disgusting or anything… “ _Fine_ , but you have to keep up your offer and I’ll be the most goddamn perfect boyfriend you’ll ever have.” 

I looked back up at him to see a wide, happy smile. “Thanks Ed.” Envy said gently, surprising me. 

“W-welcome.” I blushed softly and pulled out my phone. As I tossed it to him, I said, “Text Al a picture of yourself. He’ll annoy me until he gets it.” The phone had already erupted into a texting mess from both Al and Winry asking about Envy – Al must have already told Winry that I have a “boyfriend”. 

While the walking palm tree messed with my phone, I folded up my leather jacket and put it into my bag. After I slipped the messenger bag strap over my head and positioned it so it wouldn’t bounce around awkwardly, I checked on Envy who was staring at my phone with a weird look. “What’s up?” 

“This?” He flipped the phone around so I could see what he was looking at. It was the contact photo for Al; the picture was from the time we went to D.C. to visit monuments and such. In the picture, Alphonse had his automail arm wrapped around my shoulders and was smiling at the camera, his green eyes were bright and happy, joyous even when this trip was so hard for him. It was hot that day, so Al had rolled up his sleeves, not caring that passersby looked at him. I can’t remember exactly where we had just came from before Winry had taken that picture but I can only assume that it was from a place with security because I looked disgruntled from telling the guys off for bothering Al. 

I quickly explained that it was when we were on a trip when Envy interrupted me and told me to clarify why Al had automail. 

“Oh…” I frowned and sighed. “We got into a car crash when I was 11– so Al was 7– which resulted in a dead mother, chopped-off-limbs brother, and a runaway father.” I said hotly, still bothered by the subject even when it was almost twelve years ago. 

Envy have me an apologetic look then nodded. “So why did your dad run away?” 

“He ‘couldn’t take that my mom died and went to find serenity’ or whatever the child services douche said. Father dumped me and a broken Alphonse at a friend’s house and took off.” I muttered out, not even knowing if Envy had heard me until he spoke up. 

“Wow, he is an ass.” Envy smirked slightly yet it looked like it help a sad look behind it. “At least you have your beloved brother with you.”

I send him a confused look while asking cautiously incase this was a difficult subject for him. “Did something happen to your brother?” 

I watched as he shrugged and turned to face the dark windows. Rain still battered heavily upon it, yet the sound of rain did not reach them like it normally would have. These windows were reinforced enough to keep out the sound of rain, and more importantly the deafening sound of aircraft engines. I glanced at him before taking my place next to his side to face the said windows. Envy spoke,

“I have six siblings. Yes, you could say that they are dead but they’re not. Its…” He sighed heavily and stuck his hands into his jean pockets. “They are sick– not ill, per say but money and power have taken over their minds and corrupt them. My one of my sisters, Lust, and my younger brother, Wrath, are not that bad. They are nice and considerate but it seems like they are still far away. You could probably guess which ones of us are the most sick, even their names reveals how hungry they are. Greed, Pride, and Gluttony are the worst. Sloth is… well, like a sloth, she could really care less.” 

I nodded, understanding to the best of my abilities. It’s understandable on how someone can be so caught up in their riches that they can’t even see what right in front of them. “So, why aren’t you like them? Normally people are jealous of the rich aren’t they? Just saying.” I added the ending hurriedly. 

Envy laughed slightly. “Very true little shrimpy. But have you ever thought about how the rich feel looking down upon the ones who aren’t as fortunate? Like, even when you have money and the resources to go do things with your friends, it’s still not the same as…” He paused, as if he couldn’t find the words to explain himself before continuing. “It’s not the same experience. I got jealous of other people’s relationships to each other and how strong they are. So, I decided not to just throw money around and to settle down in a college, get a job, and to do things the way I want to do them, not what other people want you to.” 

“Oh…” I turned my gaze from the window and onto him. Envy was looking back at me but quickly looked away when our gaze met. 

“So whatever. Don’t pity me and shit.” Envy said abruptly while grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the windows. I pleaded from him to let go of but it was all in vain because Envy ignored me and pulled me over to one of those mini airport gift shops. 

“Stop doing that.” I huffed and brushed my golden bangs out of my face once he had let go of me. When I looked up to tell him off for constantly dragging me, he wasn’t there. “Envy?” 

The few people in the shop mingled around the stands and around the cash register; unfortunately, they were all taller than me save for the little kid that bumped into my leg. I rose to my toes to try to see where Envy had run off to when I felt something wrap around my neck. 

“Get the fuck off of– oh.” It was Envy who had apparently ran off, found something, and ran back in the matter of seconds. I hesitantly reached up to touch what Envy had put around my neck. “A flight pillow?” I shot him a confused look but he only grinned more and pulled _my phone out of his pocket. “Hey! Give that back–”_

One of his delicate fingers leapt up onto my lips to silence me. “Shh. You wanted me to send a photo to your brother right?” I raised an eyebrow so he continued. “So let’s make this believable right?” 

“Uh… yes?” 

Envy get this joyous look in his eyes which could only mean the worst as he draped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. “Envy?!” I yelped-whispered, not expecting him to pull me close like that so we were pressed up against each other’s sides. 

“Don’t blush my little shrimpy~” he whispered into my ear before raising the phone and pressing a chaste kiss to my cheek. 

Despite Envy’s small warning, I blushed a bright pink and pushed the man away but he kept a secure arm around me. “Get off of me.” I hissed darkly yet my heart was racing from that one small peck on the cheek. It wasn’t from surprise nor shock but from the closeness to the man– a few loose strands of his hair had prickled the side of my face for a fleeting moment. 

“Aw~ I told you not to blush. Oh well, you’re cute blushing.” He cooed, a playful smirk on his lips.

“Shut up.” I managed to wriggle out of his grip, snatch up my phone, and rip the flight pillow off of my neck in a matter of seconds, not bothering to look at the photo nor pillow. The phone started to buzz as the expected texts from Al and Win started to pour in so I silenced it and shoved it into my pocket. “I said I would pretend to be your boyfriend, not be a tease toy.” 

Envy’s arm that was stretched out from holding me dropped back down to his side. “But aren’t boyfriends suppose to take pictures like that?” He forged a sad pout at my obvious displeasure in the idea. 

I relaxed once I was safe from his arm span. “I…” Well, he was right. Couples usually do that kind of stuff and me, myself, use to do that too; I liked keeping each picture like a memory, I treasured every one because it was proof I liked my partner. “Whatever, just don’t act weird or anything alright? We are just faking it.” 

“Aw. But to fake it, something needs to be true to make it believable right?” He tipped his head to the side like he was thinking. “You have to make the lie a new truth if you want people to believe.” 

There was no retort to his statement that I could think off so I just scuffed under my breath and crossed my arms. “Think what you want to think.” I swiftly turned on my heels and went to look around at the rest of the store. 

Envy followed me as I looked about the small shop. He was mostly quiet except for the few comments about what things he thought were cool, pretty, or down right ugly. I completely ignored him except when he put his hand on my shoulder to direct me from a _Popular Science_ magazine I was holding to something he was pulling off of a shelf. “What?” 

The palm tree carefully lifted two delicate bracelets into the air to show me. “Friendship bracelets.” Before I could push him away, he had caught my wrist and snapped a bracelet onto me. The silver band glinted in the light, the crescent moon shaped charm dangled. The bracelet that Envy was wearing had an charm for the rest of the moon. 

I groaned. “Really? _Friendship bracelets_.” I was about to rip it off of my wrist and throw it at the palm tree, but instead, he had grabbed my hand to keep it steady as he clicked the moons together. My hard expression couldn’t help but soften a bit as Envy clicked them together; the two moon swayed between our two hands like it showed that we are one. 

A small chuckle make me look up from the whole moon and onto Envy. “Doesn’t look like you don’t like this, do you?” At this moment as the words left his grinning mouth, I suddenly became hyper-aware that I was pulled close to the man and that our hands were joined together. My eyes darted from his face and onto our holding hands then back onto his face as Envy spoke again, “Well, I take that as that you like it. I’ll buy it for you.”

“O-ok, Envy.” I had suddenly shelled out when he put the moon together. There was no real reason why I had stalled and just stared in disbelief but, like Envy just said, it looked like I liked it– at least I wasn’t pushing him off and accusing him of teasing me again. 

Envy dropped my hand, my fingers had instinctively tried to pull his hand back but he unclipped the bracket from my wrist and pulled back. “You can stop blushing, ya know.” A smirk sprung up on his face as I clicked my tongue and looked away. I didn’t notice that I was blushing until he had pointed it out. 

After buying a few items such as the bracelets, magazines, and quick snacks (Envy had darted back inside to get something but never let me see what it was) from the shop, we proceeded to go back to our seats only to find that they were taken by a sweet looking couple. Envy grumbled under his breath and turned to me only to point out the obvious. “I guess we have to find somewhere else to sit.”

_See why I didn’t want to move?!_ I silently huffed while rolling my eyes. “And I doubt that there are any more open. Looks like everyone decided today was the right day to go out flying.” 

“Well, it is almost Christmas. What else did you expect?” 

I shrugged and looked around. It was, in fact, Christmas. Little LED lights blinked from where they were strung around poles or railings. The small airport shop was also sporting Christmas normalities; small boxes of candy canes and cheap last minute ornaments were put on display for ridiculous prices. Even the Starbucks where I had gotten the muffins was all cheered with the addition of hot cocoa to the menu and the snowman plushies sitting on the counter for purchase. I had failed to notice all of this earlier with the distractions of getting to the plane on time, meeting Envy, and the unexpected phone call to Al. 

He was right about the fact that it was Christmas and that the airport was packed. “Let’s find somewhere to sit.” I didn’t care to look for an empty seat, I already knew that they were all filled, so instead I looked for a patch of carpet that looked soft. 

After finding a good spot, I gestured for Envy to follow me as I lead the way over to the corner between the wall and the soundproof windows. We tossed down our bags before plopping down with Envy sitting closer to the window. 

We sat in silence for a while, Envy had plugged his earbuds into ears and stared out of the window. I watched him for a moment, studying his high cheekbones and the way the loose bangs swayed in front of his face. I only looked away when Envy caught me from the corner of his eye and smiled. 

After another awkward silent moment, I cleared my throat. “So… this boyfriend thing. Do we have to, you know, kiss and stuff?” I pointedly looked away from the man next to me, knowing that I must be blushing or something because I always get embarrassed over this stuff for some reason; Al always teased me over it and even now I was running my fingers through my bangs to try to find something to do with my hands. 

I could feel his gaze on me as he answered. “I wasn’t going to be picky or anything about but since you asked, I’ll answer: everything.” 

“E-everything? Like we have been dating for a while everything?” I whipped my head around to look at him with wide eyes only to meet his crisp violet ones. 

He shrugged, then lifted a finger to trace devilishly down my jaw. “Only if you want that, Edward. I wouldn’t mind it~” 

“Shut up.” I squeaked out and batted his finger away. “Just nothing too big, I still don’t know you.” _And I still don’t know what I’m going here pretending to be your boyfriend. I could just go home right to my brother and have a normal holiday._

Envy mocked a frown then sighed. “I see what you mean but don’t shy away from anything in front of my parents.” 

“Why not?” I asked confused, why would they want something from me? 

“Hm… maybe because they expect me to have a solid boyfriend and I can’t disappoint them?” 

I nodded and thunked my head against the wall behind me before closing my eyes for a moment. “Whatever Envy, just don’t be weird about it.” 

“I’ll try not to.” His response came but I swore I could heard his everlasting smirk through his voice. “But at least get use to being close to me.” I cracked an eye open to see Envy holding up an earbud, offering it to share. 

“I’ll try.” I muttered, taking the earbud and relaxing slightly now knowing that Envy wasn’t going to be pushy about being boyfriends. Gently, I leaned against his shoulder and the wall before closing my eyes and concentrating on the rock music– consequently, my favorite song was playing. 

* * *

The shoulder shifted from underneath me and a finger poked at my ribs. “Yo, shrimp. Wake up.” 

“I’m up.” I mumbled, pulling back from off of his side where I had slumped in my sleep. “Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t realize I fell asleep.” 

“Obviously.” He made sure that I was indeed awake before standing up and stretching by throwing his arms into the air to straighten out his back. I also got up but instead I clumsy throw my bag over my shoulder and rubbed at my eyes. Envy nudged me after also donning his own bag, “They are saying that the next flight is ready to take some of us, although it’s only a certain amount of people.” He gestured to the announcement desk with an agitated look on his face which could only mean that something was up. 

“And?” He had started to walk over to the desk as I asked him to continue. 

Envy flashed me a look from over his shoulder to respond. “ _And_ only rows ten through twenty are allowed to get on. My ticket says that I’m row fifteen while yours is row twenty-two.” 

“Eh? How did you…” I frantically searched my pockets for my ticket only to look up and see Envy holding it up. 

“You’re a heavy sleeper.” He commented as I snatched the half crumbled ticket from his hands. “Let’s see if we can get your seat changed.” 

We approached the counter where a kind looking lady stood at the computer. She looked up and asked, “Hi, can I help you?” 

Envy grabbed my ticket from me again while I protested. “Is there any way to get his seat changed?” He jabbed his thumb in my direction and pushed the ticket over to her on the counter. 

The lady frowned and looked over the information on the piece of paper. “Row twenty-two… I’m sorry, I don’t think we can…” 

A voice sounded from behind me where a man had stepped in line. “Uh, excuse me?” The man stepped forward– he was one of the couple who had taken our seats. “We can trade tickets if you want. I came over to see if I can get the later flight so I could be with my wife.” 

Envy and I exchanged a hopeful look. The desk lady sighed and shrugged. “I can’t say no. It’s not the best thing to do but if you truly want to, you can.” She left to call the first five rows onto the plane. 

The kind man and I exchanged tickets before he bid farewell and headed back over to his wife. I turned back to Envy. “You know it would’ve been fine if we took separate planes.” I said yet it wasn’t fine with me. If we were going to pretend to be boyfriends, I would have to follow through with my half of the deal and anyways, it’s just easier to take the same plane so neither of us has to wait for the other. 

The palm tree shook his head. “No it wouldn’t be, _shrimpy_. I want to be on the same flight as you.” 

There was nothing to disagree about that so we waited by the front counter until our rows were called. Once called, both Envy and I were the first ones the scan our tickets and walk down the hallway to board. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Envy started to beam and skip down the hall. “Hm? You like flying.” I commented softly, I assumed that he didn’t hear me as he neared the airplane door but he turned around slightly and winked at me. 

I caught up to him and took a step into the plane. An aircraft attendant smiled at the pair of us, her uniform looked untouched– there was no dust to be spotted on neither of her navy blue skirt or shirt, even her hair was put up in an elegant bun. This was all excepted however, aircraft attendants are suppose to look prim and proper, it’s their job to calm down any nervous passengers and to walk while flying. I would feel bad for her because this isn’t the most ideal job and that most would not want this job but she looked like she enjoyed it because her smile was genuine. She spoke up. “Welcome. You may take any seat that is available. Most people had canceled and changed flights early because of the weather.” 

“Thank you!” Envy waved while I gave her a slight nod before starting down the aisle. I stuck to the palm tree’s back, not wanting to be separated and having to sit in a row next to some crying baby or smelly man. I looked up from where my eyes were fixated on his back when he let out a hum, then a small excited gasp. “I found two seats.” 

We made our way to the midback of the plane. A teen, or it at least looked like a teen, was sitting on the outside of the row. She was jamming to some music, the sound was loud enough so that I could hear it. The girl looked up and slid off her headphones when I cleared my throat and waved. “Uh. Hi, is someone sitting there?” 

She mutely shook her head and stood up for us. Envy took my messenger bag from me and put it up top in the storage bins for the beginning of the flight. He followed me into the row and sat between me and the girl. She slipped her cat eared headphones back on and went back to her music. 

“You might want to check your messages, Alphonse might be having a fit that you haven’t replied yet.” Envy pointed out. 

“Oh, yeah thanks.” I mumbled fishing my phone out of my back pocket and opening it up. Both Al and Winry had bombarded my phone with messages, thank god I’m on an unlimited plan or I would have run out of minutes. 

Envy watched as I opened the messages. 

_**Al** : Holy shit Ed, he looked wild. _

_**Al** : I didn’t know that you were interested in people like that BUT JM SO HAPPY FOR YOU. _

A few words were misspelled because of his excitement that just made me roll my eyes. Envy chuckled. He must be really happy because he even swore which he usually avoided doing.

_**Al** : Good think I’m ot envious of you brother! Haha, sorry En. _

_**Al** : oh wow, Win looks like she’s about to destroy my phone. Lol. _

_**Al** : Brotherc she took out her wrench. WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE THOSE IN THE HOUSE?! I know why BUT ATILL. _

_**Al** : aw your not answering. Too shy brother? _

I frowned at him and typed out.  
_**Me:** I’ll text you on my computer once we get to altitude. They gave us free wifi. _  
Then, I opened Winry’s. 

_**Win** : Alphonse just showed me the picture. Damn, good job Ed. I’m shocked you didn’t tell us. _

_**Win** : I’m gonna kill your brother. HE JUSR SAID YOUR BOYFRIEND IS HOT AND THAT HE WOULD KISS HIM TOO. ___

_**Win** : Say Hi to Envy for me :) _

_**Win** : oh and, cute flight pillow by the way. _

I texted her the same thing before sighing and turning my phone onto airplane mode. 

“Oh. Am I that hot that even your little brother would kiss me?” Envy wriggled his eyebrows at me, causing me to look away and click my tongue in a mock defiant manner.

“He won’t. He’s not interested in guys for all that I know of. Al is just trying to mess with me.” 

“Anyways, he sounds like a fun guy.” He stretched out his back before clicking his seat belt. “I’ll get out the bracelets once we get up in the air. I know you’re dying to put it back on.” 

“Am not!” But yes, I was. I don’t know exactly why I liked wearing it so much, nor why I even more like the sight of seeing the moon full. 

“Whatever you say, shrimpy.” 

“It’s Edward, not shrimpy!” 

* * *

_Ding!_ The red seatbelt light flashed twice before going out, which was followed by several clicking of belts and rummaging as men and women got out of their seats. Envy and the cat eared girl followed in suit. My “boyfriend” carefully passed me my laptop before sitting back down with our bag of goodies. 

While I quickly turned on my laptop and connected it to the wifi, Envy dug through the bag and pulled out the delicate bracelets and some snacks he bought. He stuffed the bag underneath the seat in front of him and lowered the tray table. He held up the bracelet and asked, “You want the smaller half right?” 

I nodded and held my wrist for him. He went to clasp the bracelet on when I suddenly snapped back. He gave me a confused look then reached out for my hand again when I shook him head no. “Why?” He blatantly asked. 

I stared at him for a second, trying to figure out exactly why I had pulled back when it tout de suite clicked. “Because it’s girly.” I muttered out, looking away. 

I could feel his gaze on me as he let out a small laugh. “So? It’s just a bracelet. No one is going to make fun of you. If anyone was to, it would be me.” 

Frowning, I held my hand out to him to where he joyously clicked it on. He did his as well before breaking out a snack to chew on. 

The messages box popped up onto the screen with Al’s response on it. Since I had both an apple phone and laptop, I had it setup to receive and send messages from either device. 

_**Al** : When do you think you guys will be in Boston? I could come and pick you up. _

Envy, who had been reading the question from over my shoulder, turned the laptop away from me and began to type. 

_**Me** : You don’t need to worry, metal boy. I already got someone picking us up. He’s spending the night at my place since we might be getting there late. He’ll see you tomorrow, don’t worry. ~ En _

I read the message over then rolled my eyes. “Do I have to?” I whined, snatching the candy cane flavored gummies out of his hand and stole a few from his bag before tossing it back at him. I popped a few into my mouth as I watched Al’s message arrive. 

_**Al:** Aw, ok. TAKE CARE OF HIM. He has a hard time at sleeping in new places. _

_**Me:** NO I DON’T _

_**Me:** Yeah yeah, I got it. He’s going to be well rested when you see him. I’ll make sure that happens. ~En _

I rolled my eyes and stuffed a few more candies into my mouth. It’s so annoying how it’s always difficult to get adjusted to a new place. I don’t know exactly _why_ it bothers me so much– maybe because it’s such a new place and anything could happen?– but it does. 

Envy was smirking at me which I pointedly ignored and opened up Pandora. “So…” He started when I pushed my earbuds into the computer and stuck the buds into my ears. “What do you want to do now?” 

“I want to sleep.” I muttered, which was the truth. Now that we were above the storm clouds, it was clear as day that it was night. Stars were twinkling like little clear flakes of snow that were caught in the light as they fell. 

“Then sleep, it’s not like there is much else to do.” Envy sighed and ate some of the candies, he gave me a few when I held my hand out. “ _Or_ we can play a game.” 

I raised an eyebrow as he turned the computer towards him again and typed in a web address. “Seriously?” He, a grown man, had typed in CoolMathGames.com. 

“What? They have cool games.” He reasoned, which I couldn’t argue against, but… 

“This website is for little kids.” 

“Fine.” He grumbled and typed in a new web address: ArmorGames.com. Now that was better. I watched as he clicked through the website until he found the game that he wanted. “This Is The Only Level. I’m a champ at this.” 

Basically, this game is about a blue elephant on one stage that is the only stage through the whole “level”. The only change is that the controls or path to get to the tunnel at the end of the stage is changed and the only hint you get at the change is by the title of the stage. I love this game. I’ve played or even completely nearly all of the creator’s of This Is The Only Level’s games. 

“Let’s take turns. Whoever finishes the stage the fastest wins.” I quickly popped up another tab of the game so we could switch and play the same stage. “Whoever wins gets to make the other person do something of their likings or gets some of the candy.” 

“Deal.” 

He pushed the armrest between us up so we could sit closer together to reach the laptop. The lights above dimmed as if they were timed at when I unpaused the game to start. 

_**Stage 1: Arrow Keys Required**_

This stage was pretty obvious, the first level of any game is always straightforward and easy. All I had to do was use the normal arrow keys configuration to jump onto the red button (that’s located in the middle of the stage which is used to open a little door leading to the ending tunnel) and go through the ending tunnel. I paused the game again and let Envy have a go. 

He did the same as me but missed a ledge and fell; he had to get back up and waste a second of time.

I smiled triumphantly and stole a few more candy cane gummies. 

_**Stage 2: Not Always Straightforward**_

At first, I tried the basic configuration of the arrow keys (up=jump, down=quicker descent down, right=go right, left=go left) but I found out quickly that they keys of right and left were switched; I began to run left into the wall while trying to go right. After falling and hitting spikes several times causing me to die, I finally got use to the controls and successfully made it to the end. 

Envy’s turn was much more neat, no elephant bodies had laid upon the screen unlike mine were three had fallen on the same spike. He turned to me with a wide smirk. 

I rolled my eyes. “You know you have an advantage, you get to see me figure it out before it’s your turn.” 

“Oh well.” He shrugged then reached across me to pluck out an earbud. “I want to listen too, you know.” 

_**Stage 3: Think Before Doing**_

This one was quite obvious by just looking at the map: the door that was needed to be opening the red button was already opened and all I had to do is run through the tunnel. And I did exactly that without faltering. 

Envy though, he wasn’t as lucky. He had accidentally jumped onto the button out of pure habit and had to go back to start. 

I teasingly poked him in the ribs which was returned with an exasperated eyeroll and smirk. “Hm… what should I make you do?” I glanced around before an idea struck me. “Give me your jacket, I want to try it on.” 

He obeyed and peeled off the jacket, which ended up not being the best idea. While trying to take off the cropped jacket, his arm had flung out and hit me square in the face. Fortunately, Envy realized his fault quickly and decided to leave it on so not to hurt the Cat-Headphones next to us. I swore under my breath at him and started the next round. 

_**Stage 4: Alternate Control Scheme**_

This stage wasn’t too bad and the both of us basically tied on this stage so I just went on to the next one. 

_**Stage 5: FreeFloating**_

I have no idea why I continuously died on this stage. All I had to do was to click the right key at certain moments to land on the red button and platforms. The cause was probably the obvious presence of Envy sitting so close to me and practically breathing down my neck, whether he had scooched closer to me or not will be a mystery; it wasn’t like I didn’t like it, it was just distracting me. 

Envy got to pick the prize at this level. I watched as he bit his lip and stared down at the laptop until his head popped up. A mischievous look entered his eyes as he turned to me and asked in a soft, impish whisper, “Can I have a kiss?”

“NO!” I squeaked out, loud enough that the person sitting in front of us had woken up from their nap and told us to shush. I pulled away from him slightly and sent a glare. “I still don’t know you,” I said quietly through my teeth. 

He grimaced and looked away, deliberately not letting me see his face but not before I saw something that made my eyes widen. “I was only joking, don’t get mad at me. It’s too cramped in here to fight anyways.” He mumbled. 

I opened my month to confront him but I took it back and looked at the laptop screen. The little blue elephant was dying over and over again, I had accidently left my hand on the keyboard. 

_Why did you look so eager?_

* * *

We ended up continuing the game after the question. Envy had asked no other embarrassing or absurd things after Stage 5, yet what I saw during that stage still whirled around in my head, bumping and pushing each and every thought out of its way; why did his face soften, eyes widen, smirk slide into a smile after he asked that question and waited for my answer? So, I reasoned with that thought. There was obviously no way I could just push it into the back of my mind just for it to fester and grow into something dangerous. 

“Ed, wake up.” Envy snapped his fingers in front of my face; I had unawarely zoned out into deep concentration while we waiting to get out of the plane. 

“Uh.. yeah! I’m here.” Sighing, I inched forward in the line until we were able to reach the door. I gave the flight attendant a courteous nod before stepping out of the plane and onto the walkway which I went down at a quicken pace, Envy following closely behind. 

I only stopped walking once we walked out of the hallway and got out of the way of the rest of the passengers. A great yawn and a stretch came from the palm tree which made me yawn as well no matter how much I wanted to suppress it. I quickly stole a glance at my phone for it to only make me feel more tired because it flashed 1:30 am up onto the screen. 

After reporting the time to a writhing palm tree, I pulled on my leather jacket to hide from the cold. As we walked over to the escalators and climbed on, I asked, “Who’s picking us up? Al is probably still up and can pick us up. I don’t want to be waiting outside in the cold, especially when you’re not wearing much for a jacket.” 

“Aw~ The shrimp cares about me.” He cooed which was only answered with a glare. “Anyways, we are getting a taxi. Unless you are so insistent on getting your brother to drive us.”

I did feel extremely guilty about asking Al to come pick us up but it was definitely a better alternative than taking a beat up taxi. “Yeah, I’ll tell him.” After quickly shooting a text to Al, we stepped off the escalator and started to make our way down to the drop off/pick up station. 

We decided to stay inside while waiting. Envy had wandered off to get a drink while I yawned and flopped down onto a bench, gazing wearily at the ceiling as I listened to two soft thumps of cans dropping in the machine followed by a crack and fizzle of one of the drinks being opened. 

“Is your brother close?” Envy asked as he walked over and tossed his bag onto the bench by my feet before dropping down by my head himself. 

“Yeah, knowing him, he would’ve been waiting at the nearest cafe incase we needed a ride.” I took the drink he passed to me and broke the seal open. I had no energy left to sit up to drink without drowning myself so I put it onto the ground. 

Envy nodded and rubbed his eyes. “Let’s hope he gets here quickly…” We lapsed into a silence, it was neither awkward nor comfortable, it was kinda like there was more that could be or needed to be talked about but both of us were too tired to talk any more. I dimly watched him stretch and cross his arms behind his head through my bangs, not bothering to brush them out of the way. 

After maybe twenty minutes went by, not like we were counting, my pocket suddenly started buzzing, indicating that Al was outside. “Come’n Envy, time to go.” I groaned slightly, pulling myself out of the daze and off of the bench. 

I glared at him as he gave a uncalled for comment that I sounded like an old man when getting up. We throw our bags over our shoulders before heading outside into the cold. 

_I hope I didn’t make the wrong decision._

_**Alphonse’s Extra:**_

“Envy! Stop pushing me. I know it’s cold outside,” was the first thing I heard my brother say as he tried to clamber into the car. Ed half launched himself into the back seats with his boyfriend following close behind and slamming the door close. 

“We made it!” Ed’s boyfriend– Envy– said joyously before collapsing in both exhaustion and relief. 

I couldn’t help but laugh and turn around in my seat to examine who I had just picked up. Edward, hair windswept and cheeks pink, was trying to nudge off a wild looking man off of him who had sprawled out across the whole back seat. Envy’s dark green dyed hair was slipping out of its bun and falling against Ed’s lap. I raised an eyebrow in Ed’s direction, although I really shouldn’t be questioning who he had found; Ed was always fond of those different and “darker” kinds of things. It’s not like I minded the painted black nails, dyed hair, or the crop jacket. They just weren’t the kind of things I were into.

“Hey Ed, Envy. You guys better buckle up if you want to go.” I said, smiling to myself absentmindedly as they muttered in agreement and buckled themselves up– I wasn’t about to be pulled over or have someone get hurt on my watch. 

After introducing myself and getting the address from Envy, I turned back around in my seat and started to drive. Ed let out a soft complaint about how cold it was out so I raised the heat for him which was followed by a sleepy Envy muttering about that he was going to go to take a nap now. The car was mostly silent except of the lowered down music still humming throughout the car. 

“Hey… Ed? You still up?” I hesitantly asked. 

His response came, “Yeah, I’m here. Can’t we just go home? Isn’t that closer?”

“Come on Ed, he’s your boyfriend. At least stay the day at his place first. It isn’t Christmas yet so you can wait.” 

“Ugh.” A soft thump sound, presumably he had hit his head on the window. I laughed slightly before he continued grumbling, “I don’t even have anything to change into in the morning. I assumed we would be going home.” 

“Oh, I brought you stuff. I’m always prepared, brother, but you should’ve asked me.” I did, in fact, bring him a small duffle bag with a few essentials inside. It’s not surprising that he comes unprepared to important stuff like this. He really needs to make a list or calendar sometime. 

“Thanks Al. Oh, on that note, I completely forgot to bring your present with me. It’s still in the dorm.” 

“Of course you did.” I sighed out. If I wasn’t tired and trying to pay attention to the road, I would’ve probably smashed my automail hand into my face or lectured Ed on how to stop forgetting everything. 

The back of the car went silent so I guessed that Ed had fell asleep as well. I couldn’t help but to sigh again as I flexed my automail fingers against the steering wheel. It’s been over ten years since I had lost my right arm and left leg. Luckily, one of my best friend’s grandmother and parents had helped in a project to develop a new kind of prosthetic– a prosthetic that sort of looked more real (as in the size and shape of a typically arm), can lift greater weights easily, and can operate directly from the nerves where the arm is also powered. The idea to set this new technology that was still in the making onto a child that had just lost some of the most important things he would ever had seemed cruel almost from an outsider’s perspective but I had chosen this on my own. Lucky, automail had already passed animal testing and had started testing on adults, children was all that was left to be tested on and I had stepped up. I’m not incredibly brave or anything, I was just acting out of selfishness to be honest, I had just lost my mother and father and was strained with my brother. At that age, I already knew the risks and was prepared to take them on. It wasn’t like getting the automail erased my memories, it was more or less of a reminder of what happened that day, but I can’t say I was disappointed with my decision. 

My eyes widened as I pulled up to a gate. Just what did the Alisters do to get this money?! Just beyond the tall black gate was a huge black and white (or at least that’s the colors I could pick out between the snow and night sky) mansion. A few lights were on and two people’s silhouettes could be seen in the through on the the great windows. 

I glanced back at Envy and Ed to check with either of them had woken up but both were still sleeping. I nervously rolled down the window and clicked the calling button on the mini number pad to open the gate. Before we had driven here, Envy had told me what to say but that doesn’t mean I’m still nervous about it. 

A smooth feminine voice erupted from the speaker. “Hello?” 

“Uh… Hi! I have Envy Alister and his boyfriend, Edward Elric here. I’m Alphonse, Ed’s brother.” I said, trying to keep my voice clear in case the speakers were bad at picking up noise. 

“Oh. Okay, I’ll let you in. Just drive up to the front door.” The box let out a click as the woman’s voice vanished. 

The gate clattered as it moved aside for me to pass through– which I did and drove up right up to the front door. By the time I parked, the two people I had seen in the windows had exited the mansion and walked up to the car.

“Ed, Envy. We’re here.” I called into the back of the car. The both of them seemed not to hear me and continued to sleep, Envy still sprawled out yet kept sitting up due to the seat beat and Ed looking dead against the window. I sighed and got out. 

The woman approached me. “Thank you for bringing them here. They must have had a rough time if they were here so late.” The woman was dashing, her pitch black hair delectably rolled her purple scarf and coat. Her jacket looked like it was half rushed to be put on due to it being unbuttoned and accidentally revealing a stunning black dress. “I’m Lust by the way, the one annoying your brother over there is Wrath.” 

The boy, Wrath, was tapping on the car window like the couple inside was a pair zoo animals.. He, I guess maybe 15 years old, let out a soft sound of glee as Ed snapped awake and looked around. 

A small ruckus came from the car as Ed woke his boyfriend up and clambered out of the car. “Envy! Stop clinging onto me, you should’ve brought more clothes if it’s was going to be this cold out.” I could hear the grumbling of Ed as he half dragged, half lead, his boyfriend out of the car and into the snow. 

“Aw~ If I hold onto you, you won’t be so cold either.” The two men walked around the car for all of us to see Envy with his arms wrapped around Ed’s waist. The man looked up. “Hey Lust, Wrath.” 

Lust nodded and took the duffel bag from Ed because his hands were full from carrying his stuff and Envy’s bag. “Alphonse, you may stay the rest of the night if you want. It’s too late to go anywhere now.” 

I raised a hand and shook my head. “No no, I can’t do that. My brother should enjoy his first day here without me.” 

“Al! Don’t leave me.” Ed’s panicked whine came and he tried to pull away from Envy to get to me. 

I laughed. “You’ll see me soon, you can survive.” Ed let out another whine but I disregarded that and thanked Lust again for the offer. “I’ll get going now. Goodnight.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is dedicated to [Jester-Knyght](http://www.jester-knyght.tumblr.com). Thank you for being my partner for the [Edvy-Alliance](http://www.edvy-alliance.tumblr.com).
> 
> Disclosure: I do not own “ _This Is The Only Level_ ” nor any other of the objects/games referenced by name. 
> 
> The prompt: “It’s late, the airport’s closing, and our flight just got cancelled, I have never met you before but I guess we’re stuck together until the next flight”.


End file.
